Chain-link.



E. T. MUELLER.

CHAIN LINK.

APPL'CATION FILED MAYZI. 1911.

Patented July 2, 1918.

EDWARD T. MUELLER, 0

Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed May 21, 1917. SerialNo. 169,910.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I,

a citizen of the Chicago, in the My invention of devices known as chainand relates more particular links adapted for ing or repairing The samels'particularly 111- to be used as an emeradapted for repairing ti-skidchainscomor the like.

tended and designed gency repa1r link, broken cross chains on an Unitedcounty States,

IE CHICAGO, I

LLINOIS, ASSIGNOB OF ONE-HALFTO EDW'ARD A. CHRISTOPH, OF CHICAGO,ILLINOIS.

' CHAIN-LINK.

EDWARD T. Munnnnn,

residing at of Cook and State ted certain new and in Chain-Links, of

description.

belongs to that general .class links emergency use the parts of ch monly-used in connection with or vehlcle wheels, but its use is not confinedsolely to the repa same may be'used cable. In practice th skid chainsusually we and the purpose may strike the of the machine,

wheels happen there are no cros the ground,the out value. ber of linksonly render might permit the chain to drop on be greatlydamaged and thecar Cross chains used are usually attached to by means of hooks, orclenched on the so thatthe cross chains When a broken the hooks are priein place.

injuring the same, as

noise. The perhaps several cross t seriously impair the chi- -skiddingchain,

Further,

wherever mud guards or irs of such chains,

found v applie cross chains of anti.-

ar out quite rapidly, when the cross chain breaks or gives way as theresult'of a link wearing and dropping out, the chains for which they areintended and other parts or the like,

ly to cooperatmg in connectains, cables automobile as the through failto serve well as "although if the entire chain would be withthe crosschain commonly and the the breaking of a num would not the skid chaininefliclent, but

the axle extensively side chains which are closed down links of .theside chains, are securely locked cross chain becomes d open and the.

worn parts of the cross chain removedand complete new cross this casethe worn orremai chain positioned. In ning parts of the broken crosschain are usually thrown away,

and sometimes when My invention production of a has among its device ofthe k n not entirely worn out.

ob ects the (1 described or eye being as desired,

Patented auiya ieis.

that is simple, convenient, durable, efficient and satisfactory, for usewherever found applicable. It has particularly as an object theproduction of a connection or repair dev1ce that may be quickly andeasily attached or detached without the use of tools, but .at

the same time a construction that will not pull apart or releaseaccidentally. Other objects and advantages of the construction hereindescribed will be obvious to those skilled in the art from thedisclosure herein made. I 1

T o this end my invention consists in the novel construction,arrangement and com: bination' of parts herein shown and described, andmore particularly pointed out in the claims. 1

In the drawings, characters indicate parts, I

Figure 1 is a plan view of several links connected by my device; Fig. 2is a similar View illustrating the applying or removing of theconnection;

Fig. 3 is a sectional. view taken substantially on line3-3 of Fig. 1; H

Fig. 4 is a perspective View of one of the links making up theconnection; n

Fig. 5 is a view inelevation'of the same as shown in Fig. 1, and 1 IFig. 6 is a viewin elevation of a slightly modified link. 1 I 1Referring to the drawings, 1-1; Qr-2 represent parts-of a chain or thelikewhich areto be connected together, as for example", links of a crosschainfor anti-skid .chains. My device preferably consists of two.similarly formed links or parts arranged to engage'theend links of thecrosschain parts and each other, and securely connect said cross-chainends. Each link or part consists of a body portion 30f wire orequivalent material bent or-tormed as at i to provide the offset 5, theend 6 of; which isflbent back as at 7 to provide an eye or loop 8. Thefree end 6 is'preferably extendwherein like reference ed substantiallyclose to the bend l, as

shown in the drawings, the size ofthe loop this ordinarily dependingupon the gage v of the materialused. The opposite end of the wire 3 isbent at 10 to provide the hook end 9, the end 11 of which may be formedas desired. The end 91118.37 lie substantially parallel to 3 or with theend bent in a little as shown.

like or corresponding 7 moved so that the hooked end 9 of The inner sideof the link at the bend 4 maybeslightly cut away or formed as at 12, ifdesired, although this is not necessary.

It will be noted by that the part 6 is bent over to one side so thatwhen the eye 6 is formed, the end 11 of the hook 9 will be substantiallyin alinement or at the center of the eye. As before mentioned, the twolinks are similar or identical. To connect up the links 1 and 2, ortheir equivalents, the repair link part is engaged with the link 1, andthe other co operating part with the link 2, substantially as indicatedin Fig. 2. The same are then each engages the eye of the other one. Thesame, if desired, may be made so that the links must be turned slightly,for example as indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 3, before they willslip together or apart easily. It will be noted by referringparticularly to Fig. 1, that the loop forming the eye is turned backslightly toward the end of the hook of the link. When in use the. strainon the two links tends to pull and maintain them together, so that themore strain the more securely they are held together. It has been foundthat there is practically no tendency whatever for the connecting partsto accidentally disengage and unlock and thereby release the ends of thechain,.this being true eventhough the cross-chain is not taut. Shouldthe connecting link parts outlive the other portions of the cross-chainsthe same may be used until worn out. Owing to the ease with which theends of the cross-chain may be re-unitedthere is no occasion to drivewith a broken cross-chain.

ere, however, time and trouble are required in replacing a cross-chainon the road, the tendency isto drive on and repair it at a moreconvenient time. As a result with a chain badly worn the driver may pullwith a skid chain having allot its cross-chains intact although worn.Perhaps within a few blocks one or even several of the chains may giveway, due to weakness, or as a result of a sudden. stop or other reason.The driver may, and usually will, continue for any number of miles tohis destinationwith a broken chain or chains, and the trip finallyterminatein an accident owing to his neglect to immediately repair abroken cross-chain orichains. With my device, requiring but a momentstime,

. no tools, and slight inconvenience, the driver covered, and proceedsin safety.

soon as a break is dis- It will be noted that the employment of my linkor connection'does not materially change the appearance of the chain.

In the slightly modified construction 6, l3represents the shank ofrepairs his chain as referring to Fig. '5

at 17 to provide an eye, the same being shown at a slight angle to theshank. The opposite end of the shank is bent at 20 to form the hook 19,which is shown turned slightly to one side. I have also indicated in thedotted lines 21 how the same might be turned toward the opposite side,should this be desired. The bend as at 19, however, is preferred. It isof course understood that the complete ring or connecting part consistsof the two similar parts, only one of which is shown in Fig. 6. While Ihave referred to this as a modified construction, to all intents andpurposes it is as much the preferred construction as that shown in theother figures, and in some cases would prove more desirable.

Having thus described my invention. it is obvious that variousimmaterial modifications may be made in the same within the scope of theappended claims without dcparting from the spirit of my invention; henceI do not wish to be understood as limiting myself to the exact form,construc tion, arrangement or combination of parts herein shown anddescribed, or uses mentioned.

IV hat I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. Arepair device for chains comprising a plurality of identical cooperatingparts, each part consisting of a straight shank having an eye at one endand bent back upon itself at the other substantially parallel with theshank.

2. A repair device for chains comprising a plurality of similarcooperating engaging parts, each part consisting of a shank hav ing aneye at one end and a hook at the other, the free end of the hook at oneend of the shank being brought adjacent the eye at the other end oftheshank, said parts detachably assembled together with the hook of eachone in engagement with the eye of the other.

A link consisting of a wire bent to constitute a shank with a hook atone end and an eye at the opposite end, the free end of the hookextending substantially parallel with the shank, the hook and the eyebeing separated a distance slightly greater than the thickness of thewire constituting the eye.

4:. In a device of the kind described, a link constructed of wire bentat each end to provide a shank having a hook at one end and a closedloop at the other end. the looped end being formed in a plane at anangle to the plane of the shank and hooked end.

5. A link consisting of a wire bent to constitute a shank with a hook atone end and an eye at the opposite end, the free end of the hook and theeye being adjacent, the extreme end of the hook being bent toward andlying substantially at, the center of the eye at the opposite end.

6. A link of the kind described consisting of a wire bent back uponitself at one end to provide a hook, and bent at the opposite end toprovide a closed loop adjacent the free end of the hook, the bend atsaid last mentioned end being at an angle to the plane of said hookedend and shank.

7. A link of the kind described consisting of a wire bent back uponitself at one end to provide a hook, and bent at the opposite end toprovide a loop, said last mentioned end being bent in a plane at anangle to the plane of said hooked end and shank, and bent at its outerside toward the free end of the hook.

8. A link of the kind described consisting of a wire bent back uponitself at one end to provide a hook, and bent at the opposite end toprovide a loop, in a plane at an angle to the plane connecting saidhooked end and shank, and bent at its outer side toward the free end ofthe hook, the free end of the hook being spaced from the eye a distanceslightly greater than the thickness of the wire.

' 9. In a device of the kind described and in combination, twocooperating engaging parts, said parts each consisting of a piece ofwire bent back upon itself at one end to provide an open hook, theopposite end being bent at an angle tothe axis of the shank and slightlytoward the shank and free end of the hook, to provide a closed loop withthe free end of the hook adjacent the center of the eye-formed at theopposite end of its 5 shank, whereby when the parts are assembled withthe hook of one engaging the loop of the other, the shanks and hookedends eX-. tend substantially parallel, and the loop of one extendsparallel with the loop of the 40 other.

10. A chain connection of the kind described, comprising a plurality ofparts, each part consisting of a wire shank bent back upon itself at oneend to constitute a hook and formed with a loop at the opposite end atsubstantially a right angle to the plane of the shank and opposite end,the looped part bent back toward the opposite end, said looped portionbent slightly backward toward the free end of the hook with the centerof the loop adjacent the free end of the hook, and arranged to engage alink at the juncture of the loop and shank, said parts constructed todetachably'engage each other, with the hook of each one engaging in theloop of the opposite one.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name in the presence oftwo subscribing witnesses.

EDWARD T. MUELLER.

\Vitnesses ROY W. HILL, CHARLES I. Conn.

fioples 05 this patent may be obtained for five cents each, byaddressing the Commissioner of Patents.

Washington, D. C.

